My average speed fluctuates hugely and I don't pay much attention to it.

When I'm doing an 8km commute with at least 3 red light stops I'm happy with 25kmph average. To get 25kmph average I'm pretty much sitting between 35-40 the whole time, it's the lights that ruin my average speed.

On longer rides, I've been doing a lot of training on tough, steep hills so I don't pay any attention to average speed over a ride, I'm more interested in my times on the climbs. When I do my rides with a weighted bag (some tools, bike lock, etc that weigh about 5-6kg) the times slow down so it's a bit confusing keeping track.

It's great to read this, i'm 32 and 120kg when i started riding 2 months ago,

i've now started to ride to and from work this week, wednesday I had a break and today I just road home from work, will do that tomorrow to (legs are killing me) my average speed previously was 28km/h and this week have manage to stay at 30.8 and lowest at 31.8

darwin's pretty flat, so i'm lucky, in saying that the head winds are a killer, Tuesday I had one on the way to work and on the way home

I found riding in a group, that most the people don't sit on that speed, and have to back of or wait, so when i'm riding on my own i push my self a lot. I road home today for the first time in ages in my work pants and shirt (aircraft machanic) and I wont be doing that again, the riding clothes make such a huge difference! it's great to see that if i keep regularly riding that i should improve over time. I use my forerunner 210 to monitor my heart, had some scary heart beats but today was my best ride, only hit a maximum of 162 heart beat's the whole ride and still managed to stay about 30km/h

regards

Lars

p.s i use a program on my iphone called sportstracker, it's free / i use this as well as my garmin, with in sports tracker it has a auto pause function with speeds lower than 5 km/h or 2 km/h also avalible for Andriod, also a good tool, but as yoru using the phones gps, your tops speeds arnt the same as the garmin and the distance is out but a couple hundred metres from the garmin

After reading these posts, maybe im not doing as well as i thought i was

I rode from the age of 8 to about 20 years of age got a bronze in the Vic road tt as a junior @17 years of age, cant remember my average speed back then

At easter this year decided to go and get the old steed from my folks place wiped off the cob webs,put a bit of olive oil on the chain, charged up the Old cateye computer and went for a 20ish k ride about 13 k into it got off the saddle to have a bit of a dig up a rise and nearly fell off as the legs were like jelly got home and averaged about 24k.

I now usually ride between 50-100k solo ride's and average between 28-30kph always with a climb of about 3k long at a average gradient of about 7%. I do a bunch ride on Saturdays and we always av abot 30 to 31 but as we all now its much easyer in a bunch. In the bunch there are alot of elite riders(which doesnt hepl my strava records and segments) that tell me i will need at least a year before i start hitting my straps again.

But the thing that puzzels me the most is my weight.When i started back on the bike at easter i was about 92kg, height 6'2" have been on a strict diet also ,but now weigh around the 98kg.Legs have got alot skinnier and toned but no weight loss

Anyway the fact is ; Back in the day i was training because my Coach/dad told me to.Now i train because i love it and it gets me out of the house. Will strap on the number next years road season and see how i go.

toolonglegs wrote:If you want to beat a kom then you need to save yourself for it ( usually )... Work it into your training as part of an effort. But beware most KOM's that aren't set on proper hills or loops can be achieved much easier some days due to wind and group efforts.

After reading these posts, maybe im not doing as well as i thought i was

Thanks for saying you aren't going well, then explaining how much quicker than me you are

bardygrub wrote:Anyway the fact is ; Back in the day i was training because my Coach/dad told me to.Now i train because i love it and it gets me out of the house. Will strap on the number next years road season and see how i go.

That's the best part about all this. I got huge pleasure the first full week I avoided paying through the nose for public transport. Now I still get that feeling every week, but also can add to it the pleasure of feeling the legs and lungs get stronger and stronger.

After reading these posts, maybe im not doing as well as i thought i was

Thanks for saying you aren't going well, then explaining how much quicker than me you are

bardygrub wrote:Anyway the fact is ; Back in the day i was training because my Coach/dad told me to.Now i train because i love it and it gets me out of the house. Will strap on the number next years road season and see how i go.

That's the best part about all this. I got huge pleasure the first full week I avoided paying through the nose for public transport. Now I still get that feeling every week, but also can add to it the pleasure of feeling the legs and lungs get stronger and stronger.

There is always someone quicker, better.But as long as well all enjoy our cycling.

Went for a Ride up here with a bloke that rides extremely fast on his racer, on the garmin gps i clocked 47.1 km/h sitting behind him managed to sit with him for about 2 1/2 km/s around 3minutes give or take, it totally killed me, but on the way home from our ride we where all sitting on the 1min 40 to 1 min 50 and just felt normal,

find someone that can push you try to keep up with them each we a little further and your speed will come up ten fold!

i've increased my average speed, but my top speeds have dropped! it's extremely flat up here in darwin

but when i started riding on the first of September on a busted arse mountain bike, i've then moved to a busted arse racer, borrowed my mates flash racer and now riding my trek for the last 2 weeks here is a date km and average speed

lammy wrote:ha ha. I been feeling pretty good about myself recently until today when I got overtaken by a man carrying his daughter on the back of his hybrid.. ha ha. my average was 33kmh on this particular ride.

that sucks hey! Nothing worse than smashing along at what feels like a great pace and having a mtb/old guy/SS/fixie/bunch of girls whoosh past you...

As for averages, I don't reckon I've improved a whole lot since getting back into cycling last year. I was probably averaging 24-26km/h on my 20km/h commute. This year I started doing Brisbane river loops and was a similar avg pace at the start. Have been nudging closer to 30km/h this past week. Riding with stronger guys and girls certainly helps you to push yourself a bit harder. But yeah, perhaps 4km/h improvement over a 35-40km river loop feels faster, but is nowhere near the speeds the strava Gods are punching out.

lammy wrote:ha ha. I been feeling pretty good about myself recently until today when I got overtaken by a man carrying his daughter on the back of his hybrid.. ha ha. my average was 33kmh on this particular ride.

that sucks hey! Nothing worse than smashing along at what feels like a great pace and having a mtb/old guy/SS/fixie/bunch of girls whoosh past you...

As for averages, I don't reckon I've improved a whole lot since getting back into cycling last year. I was probably averaging 24-26km/h on my 20km/h commute. This year I started doing Brisbane river loops and was a similar avg pace at the start. Have been nudging closer to 30km/h this past week. Riding with stronger guys and girls certainly helps you to push yourself a bit harder. But yeah, perhaps 4km/h improvement over a 35-40km river loop feels faster, but is nowhere near the speeds the strava Gods are punching out.

riding with people that are a lot faster helps, if you can hold onto them I've found that to be of assistence!

lol you done in 3 months what it took me 17 months to achieve. good on ya.

thanks, I still want to go faster, just got to get fitter and more strength in my legs, not happy with how the bikes geared, I think my 12 year old shogun has a bette gear ratio that the madone 3.1, but i'll see how I go, I'm also going to start going to the Valodrome on Friday nights they do some training

60km ride to day wasn't so flash, didn't feel it at all, and only managed 28km/h avg riding on my own, found it hard to keep pushing along hard, was okies if i could see someone up ahead then I pushed to catch them. but then pass and try and keep my speed, I'm enjoying using strava, that's fun an helps u push along a bit

Finally managed to crack the 30kmh average mark for the first time in about 7 years (apart from group rides), managed a 30.7kmh average over 60km's, lack of wind helped. I think I've finally settled on the best gear ratio's. I've been running a 12-27 with a 34/48 front and have now ordered an 11-26, just felt a bit short at the top end, that is a bigger gear ratio than the 50/12 top gear you see stock on a lot of bikes and means you can stay in the big ring longer.

BarryTas wrote:how long did it take u to increase your avg speed??????

well it's an ongoing issue depending in the wind and who's wheel is in front of me

Wish I had people to ride to give me a break from the wind! Been pushing hard this week, managed 32 on the ride home yesterday, read a bit about bike fit and position, put my seat up, this morning's ride i Managed 32.4 again, and didn't feel half a stuffed as last week when i did 32.

hopefully every ride should be in the 31's 32's next week and push a little more,

I have been riding for 18 months now, love it more than ever, just need more time to do it.

When I kicked off, anything above 20-22kph was good, I was Big, at 125+kg and only 5.11" tall.

I am sill 5.11", but now "only" 100-102kg, my bike still weighs in at 14kg road ready, my average is now up to 30-32kph for 50-60km solo rides, and 29-30kph for 100km rides solo.

Group rides tend to bring my average up by about 2 kph.

the road surface also makes a huge difference, I live rural NSW, the roads are crap, very coarse chip surface, it makes it like riding up hill, when I do get on smooth hot-mix or concrete roads, my average goes up by 2-3 kph.

I would like to drop another 10 kg from the power pack and 4-5 kg from the bike, but time and $$$ are short.

The biggest improvement I did notice, other than time in saddle, was when I changed what other training I was doing, I was going to a Personal trainer, great guy, lots of cardio, light weight lifting.A few months back I started going to my local "Crossfit" box, WOW, what a difference, heavy weights, lots of "Olympic Lifting", DEEP squats with now for me well over 100 kg on the bar, huge leg workouts, every movement also uses and incorporates CORE strength and training.

Why is this different? well I can now hit a good climb, get up on the pedals and stay there, before I would last 20-40 meters and legs failed, I can stay up for 300-500 meter or more now, changing up gears as I go, a climb I do on almost every ride, is 1 km long with a 70 meter gain in elevation, 6 months ago was an up down affair, on the pedals for 10 seconds, on the seat for 30 etc, going over the top at 11-12 kph.Now it is up out of saddle, changing up gears, sitting only on the two short flat/down hill bits, topped it last week at 26 kph.

Leg strength is king for climbing, DEEP squats, with big weights are the best way to get it.

Bentnose wrote:Finally managed to crack the 30kmh average mark for the first time in about 7 years (apart from group rides), managed a 30.7kmh average over 60km's, lack of wind helped. I think I've finally settled on the best gear ratio's.

I had a similar experience last week. Only over 18km but it was a commute so pretty happy. I put it down to a combination of hitting the hills on the weekend, a couple of days rest and fluking a gap between trams

This is a very interesting thread for me. I've been riding on and off for years (started MTBing when I was about 12) but have never worked that hard or put much structure into trying to improve. What I mean by that is that I would go out and try to ride further and faster, but I've never done interval training or hill training or whatever, and never really had a plan. I just rode cos I love riding my bike! This sort of changed (still love riding my bike) after I went on holidays and came back in August at 75Kg (I'm 5'10", 30yo, and scrawny build, so 75Kg is a lot of spare tyre), and I had to do something about it. I've been working harder but still haven't really got a plan. I'm keen to build up my ability, so any tips would be very welcome.

Prior to last week, I've been commuting twice a week (Forest Lake>West End, 26km each way), and trying to get two decent weekend rides in. Saturday as a solo ride (25-70km depending on time), and Sunday tagging along for the ride with my wife's tri-club (varied between 40 and 70km). Commutes usually averaged 29-30, and for some reason I often found I rode better on Saturday (did the 70Km loop from FL>Graceville>West End>river to Story Bridge>City>Toowong>St Lucia>Graceville>FL at an average of 30.5).

Last week I joined a local shop ride which goes out twice a week. This has impacted on my commute (I drive to the start of the ride, do the ride, have coffee, and then ride to work from there) but as my first experience with large bunch rides, has been great fun. Went out with the fast group on Tuesday, Chelmer Loop 35km, was pretty fast for me, a big buzz riding at speed in a pack, got dropped about 3/4 of the way around but didn't care, and still averaged 31kmh. Day off on Wednesday, Thursday went out with the Intermediate group, same route but 28 average which was fairly easy for me. Probably would have been too tired to flog myself with the fast group again though. Added another 35km with the commute (extended it slightly on the way back). Friday - day off. Saturday - 100km from home to river (first 100km in about 18 months, slack!), then down to the Gateway Bridge and back. Felt tired and sore at the start, so tried to ease into it, but still got VERY tired about 75km in. Averaged 28. Sunday - out with the tri-club again, too tired to do the big ride, so went on the slow ride, another 30km, not sure what the average was (got two flats) but it wouldn't have been high. Couldn't have done much more!

All up I did about 230km last week, and if I can manage another 100km this saturday I'll hopefully be up to 250-260 this week. Would really like to be able to ride with the fast group on the shop rides without getting dropped, that's my goal at present, so I figure I need to work towards getting another couple of kmh up my sleeve. Gonna be tough, any helpful advice much appreciated!

Lastly I'm already pretty pleased with how much better I feel now than in August! Down to 68kg (I last saw that when I was 27yo) and still falling despite the fact that I'm eating more than normal (always hungry these days!). Aside from that, I'm just generally happier. More cycling = better mental state, and I am loving life as a result.

Eugene wrote:Leg strength is king for climbing, DEEP squats, with big weights are the best way to get it.

I am also an old fart, at 43 yrs.

Love the bike more than ever.

That's interesting. I'm thinking about trying cross-fit. But I'm also giving Athlete Lab a go, since I was so pleased with the bike fit they did for me. Looks like I can just use the "adjustabikes" they have rather than bothering with bringing my own one in and burning up tyres (or putting a training tyre on a spare wheel).

Average was 33.5kmph - why? Only got one set of lights. I've done other faster rides that netted lower average speeds.

Average speed is not a reliable measure of performance, too many variables out of your control. Concentrate on times climbing hills, on set sprints, etc. Or even just concentrate on how fast that you go, and how fast you can hold for periods of time.

jimboss wrote:Average speed is not a reliable measure of performance, too many variables out of your control. Concentrate on times climbing hills, on set sprints, etc. Or even just concentrate on how fast that you go, and how fast you can hold for periods of time.

Totally agree. Obsessing about average speed is counter productive in the long run - leads to people only riding when there is: no wind, no hills, no traffic lights, no tired legs, etc. Cycling is all about fitness and sustained higher power. So the best way to get faster is to get fitter and the best way to get fitter is to ride harder and longer. I agree hills are one of the best measure of fitness so find a decent hill (cat 3 min) and time yourself up it.

BarryTas wrote:how long did it take u to increase your avg speed??????

well it's an ongoing issue depending in the wind and who's wheel is in front of me

True that!

I'm always working on increasing my average speed...first it was to have a river loop above 20ks/hour, then to get it closer to 25... More recently to get it to 30!Today I got into the low 30's for a river loop now to keep it above 30 for more rides....

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